alcohol and lemonade
by kyouko
Summary: "And remember that I know what lemonade tastes like, and it is not liquor." cloti oneshot, tifa's point of view.


**alcohol and lemonade  
****RATED: T FOR SAFETY | STATUS: COMPLETE, ONE-SHOT**

* * *

Cloud's drinking. Again.

First, he took a sip of my cheap liquor, and now . . . he's just gulping it, practically chugging it.

Drinking's just something I'm not exactly fond of. I may own a bar entitled _Seventh Heaven_, but I'm not a drinker. I'm only the barmaid—there to help people figure out what they want, pour a few drinks, make conversations. I enjoy it.

No, Cloud rarely drinks—if so, it's only one glass. But _this_ is a whole bottle that he's drinking. I'm not worried something will happen. If something _does_ happen, then he will go to our room. And he will stay in there until I'm sure he's either sober or not totally drunk.

"Teef, hand me that bot—"

"No," I interrupt, knowing what he was going to say. He was already finished with his bottle of liquor, and he wasn't going to be getting another one any time soon. "You're not getting more," I say as I reach across the counter to grab an empty bottle, walking away to throw it into the garbage can.

I could feel Cloud's eyes glaring at my back. He opened his mouth to speak, but I placed my finger on his lips, making him stop.

I walked away from him and back around the counter, taking a piece of cloth and soaking it in water. Time to—

"Teef," Cloud manages to say correctly. But the rest isn't necessarily correct. "Moooo_reeeee_," he tries to say. It came out more as "moooarrrrrr," the arrrrrr part sounding like "are" while he was speaking. He was already halfway drunk, his words beginning to slur. This was _not_ going to go well . . .

—drag Cloud by his T-shirt and bring him up to our room.

"What did I tell you earlier?" I snapped at him, walking over to him afterwards. "I said _no_. And when I say no, that means _no_." I lifted him up from the chair by his arm, sighing desperately for help. I didn't want to spend a great deal of time with a drunken man. But when it came to Cloud . . .

I had to.

"Come on," I told him. "Time to go upstairs. Let's go."

"Buuut—"

I clasped my hand over his mouth and shushed him by putting my finger on his lips. He was getting too loud. "Marlene and Denzel are sleeping, so keep your voice down," I scolded, taking my finger off his mouth.

• • •

It took five minutes, but I eventually dragged him up the stairs and into our room, making him sit on his bed. He was saying numerous things that I couldn't understand, but I _know_ that he said "Teef" in one of them. Makes me wonder what he said about me.

_Tifa, why do you even care? He's drunk. All he would've said is something stupid, or he was just talking about something you previously did. It's nothing to worry about_, my mind tells me.

I think, _But what if it was something else?_

I don't want to know.

"Sit."

My eyes widened for a moment, but then I looked at Cloud. "Why do _I_ have to sit?"

"Sit," he repeats again.

I'm not enjoying whatever he's doing—or trying, for that matter. I'm getting slightly annoyed, even if I _do_ . . . never mind.

I shook my head, but he was just staring straight at me. I felt like ice, like I couldn't move, otherwise something would happen. I wanted to shrug—but what was there to shrug about? Shrug off feeling like an ice cavern? Nope.

"You sit," I said. "You're the one who's drunk."

He looked at the ground, to the door, and then at me. I just wanted to know what was going on. I wanted to know why I had to sit.

"Sit." He kept repeating _that_, but how come? Is he going to make me do something? Is he . . . no, he won't do anything.

_He _isn't going to win this time. "Cloud, tell me what in the name of Gaia you're doing," I hissed at him, desperate to keep my voice low so I wouldn't wake the children. "I'm not going to play any damn games with you."

"I'm not"—I saw him grinning one of his rare smiles for a second—"playing games." He was still looking at me, but becoming silent. The tone in his voice seemed, somehow, _adoring_.

I ignored it. "Lay down," I told him, getting ready to put the comforter of his bed over him. He did without any obligation, and I could've smiled—except it was not the time for smiling. I tucked him in, although I knew he wasn't going to go to sleep any time soon.

It was worth a try, though, right?

• • •

I'm waiting for him to open his eyes. I'm sitting on the side of my bed, wanting him to look straight into my eyes right when he woke up.

It's already morning. He's sleeping, safe and sound. I'm awake—eager for him to be, too. Marlene and Denzel are up, eating some breakfast—eggs and some orange juice that I cooked for them—before they get ready to leave to hang out with a couple of friends in Edge.

"Cloud," I whispered. "Wake up . . ." I repeatedly played with his spikey, blond strands of hair, forgetting that he was still _Cloud_ for a moment. I don't think Cloud would even approve of my behavior toward him.

_Forget it, Tifa_.

Cloud turned over, but I slightly shook his shoulders. He groaned, and he finally turned back over to me.

His eyes were wide open.

"Oh, good morning, Cloud," I announced, standing up and moving to open the curtains, allowing the bright sun to enter our room. "I see you had a nice night last night."

I wanted to turn around and glare at him, but it would definitely make him more uncomfortable than he should be.

I reached over the nightstand and grabbed a few things. He was _in_ for it—there was certainly no way of getting out of this one, even if he's going to be completely embarrassed by it afterwards. His choice, after all.

Holding up a lemonade thermos and a cheap liquor bottle, I told him, "The next time you want to pretend you're drunk, use something other than my lemonade to switch liquor with." I placed the bottle and thermos back onto the nightstand, staring at Cloud. "And remember that I know what lemonade tastes like, and it is _not_ liquor."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

* * *

Surprise! Weird ending, but I wanted it like that. This is something I've never, ever done before. I'm happy with it, too! I had so much fun writing it.

I think that the reason I wanted to write this was to show a little humor and a tad of romance (but there's not much romance in this . . . sorry!) for Cloud and Tifa (and it may be a little out of character and cheesy, I apologize, once again). If you don't understand the plot, here it is: Cloud gets "drunk" so he can earn Tifa's attention. It works, but then she finally understands that he isn't—because he never acts like that when he _is_ somewhat drunk—actually drunk so she confronts him. It's revealed that he switched the two drinks, but it's not revealed _why_! Maybe I'll do a sequel to this sometime. If I do—I hope it answers your questions about this piece.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER**

* * *

I do not own Cloud or Tifa; Final Fantasy VII and its characters belong to Square.

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**LEAVE ME A REVIEW TELLING ME IF I DID WELL** (or if you noticed any mistakes)** OR HOW I COULD IMPROVE MY WRITING. THANK YOU.**


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